The present invention relates generally to ski boots and more particularly to plastic ski boot shells having a closure system utilizing an endless cable and a buckle.
Conventionally, in such plastic ski boot shells, there is an elongated opening along the front or the back of the shell to facilitate entry into the shell of a skier's foot. Arranged along one side of the elongated opening are one or more buckles, and, in the conventional plastic ski boot shell, arranged along the other side of the opening, opposite each buckle, is a retainer pad for an endless cable. one portion of the cable is arranged by the retainer pad, and the other portion of the cable is engageable and disengageable with a buckle to lock and unlock the closure system.
Typically, the retainer pads have been fabricated as separate and discrete parts and then assembled onto the plastic ski boot shell utilizing an arrangement which pivotally mounts the retainer pad between a first position for lockingly engaging the endless cable and a second position, rotated 180.degree. from the first position, to permit the removal of the cable from its engagement by the retainer pad. The retaining pad arrangement described in the preceeding sentence is relatively complicated and expensive to manufacture and assemble.